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Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Saturday alleged that the BJP's "Nathuram Godse mindset has not ended yet" after the VB-G RAM G Bill (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)) was passed by the Parliament.
Speaking to ANI, Warring said that including the name of Ram and removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from MGNREGA is a "way to fool people," with the ultimate aim of killing the scheme itself. "Removing the name of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, is not a good thing; it shows that the BJP's Nathuram Godse-like mindset has not ended yet. We all have faith in Lord Ram, but including Lord Ram's name in government schemes will not achieve anything; it's just a way to fool people," he said. Claiming that the Centre wants to end the scheme, Warring added that any positive changes, such as higher wages and longer working days, have been offset, with the states now required to bear 40 per cent of the cost. "It seems that their intention is to shut down this scheme for the poor...Just to show they gave 125 days (in the scheme), and they have increased the daily wages too, but the states have to bear 40 per cent of the cost, whereas they did not have even 10 per cent before. The reason the scheme was started so that the poor do not go hungry," he added. Meanwhile, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate too opposed the changes, saying that the whole scheme has been finished off, and that such a renaming is an insult to the name of Ram. "In the new scheme there is no guarantee for work. Yes, there is no name of Ram in this, Lord Ram is close to us, we worship him. In this, they (BJP) have made an acronym, R for Rozgar, A for Ajeevika, and M for Mission, they should not insult the name of Ram like this. Crores of people believe in him, what you are doing is totally wrong," Shrinate said. "You would see that people will protest against this on the streets, the Congress party will fight against this from Parliament to the street. Just like we fought against the three black farm laws, which needed to be taken back," she added. On Friday, the Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB--G RAM G) Bill, with Rajya Sabha approving the legislation, which was passed in the Lok Sabha before. The Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work. As per Section 22 of the Bill, the fund-sharing pattern between the Central Government and the State Governments will be 60:40, while for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States, and Union Territories (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir), it will be 90:10. Section 6 of the Bill allows the state governments to notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting. (ANI)
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